


Guard Duty

by carpalglitter



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Awkward Hugs, Card Games, Gen, Lea and Kairi are friends obvs, Reunions, ~Friendship~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 14:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3572981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpalglitter/pseuds/carpalglitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Old friends only forget each other until they're awkwardly reintroduced. **edited and republished**</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guard Duty

Lea tapped his foot impatiently on the stone tile, back against the wall of the tower. He was the only one left in Yen Sid’s study at this point, on ‘guard duty’, according to Mickey. Lea preferred to think of it as solitary confinement for failed wannabe keyblade masters.

He was still in training, having only learned how to summon his keyblade at will a month ago. The difference between combat with his new weapon and his chakrams was amazing. And infuriating. With his chakrams, he danced through battles, movements light and calculated. With his keyblade, though, he was a complete mess. His balance was off, and his hands had no idea how to move. Training sessions had a habit of ending with twisted ankles and a potion or two.

The least he could do to soothe his ego would be to train, but even Donald and Goofy were out. Most likely to check up on the castle and update Queen Minnie about the goings-on. At least _she_ had royal duties, even though she had no choice but to stay at the castle. It had to be better than waiting and twiddling your thumbs like an idiot for 6 hours.

Lea huffed, irritated, when the door to the study opened. Kairi walked in, looking weathered and bruised.

Lea cocked his head at her in greeting. “How did it go?”

“Just fine, believe it or not.” Kairi said, sitting in one of the chairs scattered about the room. “The boys are checking the perimeter and doubling up the safeguard spells. Then they’ll bring him up. All we need to do now is wait for everyone else to get back and hope nothing bad happens until then.”

Lea nodded. “Wouldn’t expect anything less from you three.” His voice was only tinged with a little bit of envy.

Kairi leaned back in her chair, resting her hands on the back of her neck. “Sooo,” she said, setting the bag slung over her shoulder on the floor. “How did guard duty go?”

Lea snorted. “Boring as usual. Not like I particularly enjoy sticking my neck out with the risk of losing my head. But it’s gotta be better than being cooped up in some old man’s stuffy tower, right?”

Kairi laughed a little. “You’ll get there, Lea. Don’t worry.”

Lea shrugged, smiling.

After a moment, they heard voices and footsteps coming up the stairwell. Sora was definitely laughing as Riku made an exasperated noise. After a bit, the door opened again and Sora, Riku, and their new guest stepped through

“Oh my god, Sora, stooop.” Said Riku as he walked in, face cracking in a reluctant smile. He noticed Lea standing in the corner and nodded his head in greeting. “Hey, Lea. How was-”

Lea held up a hand. “Hey yourself. And don’t ask. It was boring.” He looked over at their guest. He had his back to Lea, and was looking around at the dusty, ancient books lining the walls. “So,who’s the fresh meat?”

Sora poked his head around Riku, face indignant. “Lea, I told you already! Several times. This is Ventus.” Sora tapped the side of his head with a finger and wiggled his eyebrows. “Got it memorized?”

Lea pushed his face away. Sora laughed into his palm as Kairi giggled in the background. “Alright, smartass. That’s enough out of you. I remember now." Lea shrugged, face adopting a long-suffering expression. "An old man with too much on his mind just can’t catch a break around here.”

Riku snorted at this. “Old man, my left-” he muttered.

“So, anyway,” Kairi interrupted, bringing the room’s attention back to more important matters. She turned in her chair toward their new guest. “This, as you may have already been able to guess, is Lea.”

Their guest turned around to face him finally, proffering a hand. “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Ventus.”

“Nice to meet you t-” Lea froze, hand halfway extended. He raked his eyes over Ventus’ face. Something in those eyes was familiar. They were a bright, icy blue, but still gentle and full of warmth. Ventus’ face jogged his memory too. He was definitely about the same age as Lea himself, his face showed it in its lines and angles. But still, the image Lea’s memory conjured when he looked at him was softer.

The whole room quieted in confusion, staring, until Lea broke the silence.

“Ven?!” he squawked in disbelief.

Sora’s mouth dropped open. “You know him?”

“Yeah! He kicked my ass in Radiant Garden when we were kids. We were friends.” He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, contemplative. “A lot happened after that, so I guess I forgot. I kind of wasn’t myself for a while.”

Ven still hadn’t spoken or moved until a look of realization lit up his face like a spotlight. “I remember now! I did kick your ass! Isa said so,” And, before Lea had a moment to react, Ven hugged him around his chest. “I didn’t think we would ever see each other again! I'm glad you're alright.”

“More or less.” Lea said, awkward and fumbling for words. ”Uh…”

Ven looked up at him and started, backing away a step. He scratched at the side of his face, self-conscious.

“Sorry. I got ahead of myself there.” Ven stuck his hand out again, smiling, and Lea shook it this time. “Nice to meet you again.”

“Same here.” Lea looked over Ven’s shoulder at the trio standing a few feet away. They were all smiling, but Sora was nearly vibrating with excitement.

Lea raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Sora leaped at Lea and Ven, putting an arm around each of their shoulders.

Lea stumbled, tripping on his feet due to Sora's exuberance. The fact that Sora was a good foot shorter than him didn't help.

“What the hell, man?”

Sora grinned at the both of them. “I’m just happy for you guys!”

“Could you let me know in advance next time you get so happy you nearly break my neck? I would appreciate it.”

Ven laughed.

 

The five of them sat in various chairs around Yen Sid's desk, crowding a bit for space. They talked and laughed for several minutes, until Riku cleared his throat. The conversation fell silent and they all looked at him. **  
**

"I think it would be a good idea for Ven to tell us about what happened on his end before he fell asleep." He tapped his fingers against his arm, self-conscious, and turned to Ven. "We have a rough timeline from all our perspectives already. Aside from what Mickey knows, what happened to you and your friends is a mystery."

The atmosphere suddenly turned somber. Every head at the desk turned to look at Ven.

"Oh, uh." Ventus looked down at his hands, flustered by all the eyes on him. "Yeah. I can definitely do that."

Riku nodded, riffling around the desk for a quill and paper. "Who wants to take notes this time?" He looked at Sora, whose hand was halfway raised, and shook his head. "Not today Sora. No one can read your handwriting."

Sora made an indignant noise as Lea reached out, taking the quill and paper from Riku. He smirked at Sora.

"He's right, you know. Your handwriting is a mess, man."

Sora crossed his arms and glared.

Riku sat back down and looked at Ven.

"Whenever you're ready." He said.

 

 ****It was an hour or so later before Ven finished telling his story. The only sound aside from his voice was Lea scribbling away in the background. Everyone gathered around the desk was somber, expressions lost in thought. Riku pulled Lea's notes toward him and read them over.

"Thanks, Ven. This is definitely going to help us out."

"No problem." Said Ven. He looked tired and sad at this point.

The group was silent for a moment, until Kairi stood and walked to where she left her bag. She searched around in it for a moment before sitting back down, something in her hand.

"What's up?" Said Sora, face resting against the table.

"I thought we could use a pick-me-up after that." Kairi set a deck of playing cards on the desk. "Anyone interested?"

The group made a general noise of agreement.

The next couple hours were filled countless rounds of half a dozen different games. The pall over the room had long dispersed, replaced instead with laughter and obscenities.

Kairi was winning their current game, locked in fierce competition with a less-than-confident Riku. Lea had hadn't won a single game by now, and threw his hand on the table in a huff. Sora laughed at his lack of resolve. Lea told him to fuck off, thanks.

Ven was more quiet than the rest, at some point choosing to just watch the others play. His eyes bright and full of hope like they hadn’t been in… hell, over a decade, from what he’d said.

Suddenly there was the low, familiar roar of the king’s gummi ship overhead. Riku got up and started straightening the desk, gathering all the cards together again. Kairi groaned in frustration, _just one more round, come onnn, Riku_. Riku smirked at her, reveling in their tie-by-default, and Kairi gave him a dirty look. Sora got up to help Riku, dragging Kairi up by her hand in the process as she protested.

Lea tipped back in his chair, hands rested on the back of his neck, and kicked his feet up onto the table. He watched everyone else around him work at fixing the desk to the way it was, and stifled a yawn.

Lea looked at Ventus. His expression was a bit sheepish and unsure.

“You alright, Ven?”

“Huh?” Ven’s attention snapped to him. “Oh, uh. I’m fine. I just feel like I should be helping everyone.”

Lea waved a hand at him, as if to shoo away his concerns like you would a fly. “Nah, don’t worry about it. You don’t know where Yen Sid keeps anything. And besides,” He grinned mischievously at Ven, leaning forward a bit. “I get away with it all the time.”

Ven laughed again, and so did Lea.

"I'm glad we're friends again." Said Ven, clapping Lea on the shoulder.

"Same here." Lea smiled.

 

**Author's Note:**

> i decided to edit this fic because it sorely needed it. i hope you enjoy!


End file.
